Inside The PR Machine At The South Beach Wine & Food Festival
Courtesy of Dirk DeSouza
By all accounts, the Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival is a runaway success.
Now twelve years running, originally starting as a humble one day celebration on the Florida International University Campus, the SBWFF has morphed into a four-day annual beachfront financial juggernaut, attracting big dollar sponsors, 60,000+ festival attendees and TV chefs clamoring to fortify their brands and touch their rabid fans.
Every household name celebrity chef was in attendance Bobby Flay, Giada De Laurentiis, Masaharu Morimoto, Rachael Ray, Anthony Bourdain, Emeril Lagasse, Geoffrey Zakarian, and countless more conducted cooking demonstrations, hosted late night parties, hocked books and partied like rock stars.
Even Guy Fieri, seeming nonplussed by the recent parody menu skewering his NY flagship restaurant, made the rounds.
While the festival itself is non-profit, with all proceeds benefitting Florida International University, attending the festival can be quite pricey.
Want to attend the event "Tribute Dinner Honoring Nobu Matsuhisa and Christophe Navarre with Mistress of Ceremonies Martha Stewart Presented by Bank of America part of the New York Times Dinner Series"? That event alone is $500pp and there are up to twenty events per day, scattered across hotels, restaurants and tents around Miami Beach.
Join us on a peek inside the PR and financial machinations of America’s sexiest food fest.
Editor's Note: SBWFF regional PR firm Brustman & Carrino comped DeSouza's entrance fee to the festival.